For all my Jewish friends and anyone that really enjoys a well planned Rube Goldberg Machine (chain reaction).

Technion students get ready for Passover, the festival of freedom, and let their imagination run wild. Watch closely as this Rube Goldberg Machine created by students from the Faculties of Mechanical Engineering and Architecture and Town Planning relates highlights of the Passover story.
Filmed in the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering in The Sydney & Shirley Gendel and Emanuel Friedberg Family Creative Design Student Laboratory, a Project of the American Technion Society, Cleveland Chapter

Home alone on a Friday night. Some might say its for losers, I say it is nice to have a calm evening by myself. I am currently sitting outside, feeling the nice summer breeze wash accross my body while enjoying a glass of wine. It’s hard to believe that the summer is almost over.

The hot months have seemed to pass by in a daze. From wonderful moments like my fathers 70th surprise birthday. That despite the chaos, went off without a hitch, to my week long vacation in Illinois visiting Renae and her new born baby girl. I honestly think if I would have stayed there any longer I would have taken over my iPad camera roll. I think I ended the week with about 100+ photos of Elyse also known as “Ms El”.

And then there were the sad times. For this, I will refer you to three of my nieces blogs as I feel I wouldn’t be able to capture it as well as them. I still can’t believe that Nancy is gone or what a bigger impact she would have on my life after she left.

So here it is about 30 days from my 30th birthday and I can’t believe that the summer is slowing fading away. The nights are getting darker earlier, the studying for school will soon start but I am looking forward to what fall has in store. New opportunities at work (fingers crossed) my birthday, possibly my first Halloween wearing a couples costume with G.C. (I know, silly but it would be a first for me) and a Thanksgiving without a key family member.

The summer is inching closer to fall but I’m ok with that. For now I will enjoy the breeze and the closing of the summer that was unexpected. Enjoy my peaceful night tonight before the crazy labor day weekend begins. With my glass of wine, book in my hand and nothing but the brightly lit “blue” moon to keep me company.

This was originally posted last year but with my hiatus and New Years right around the corner, I thought a re-post (with some small changes) was appropriate

Yeah, that is right, you heard me. When did New Year’s Eve go from just some friends getting together at a house to welcome and ring in the new year, to us spending $100 – $300 for tickets to some hotel “party” or downtown disco tech, only to stand in line at the bar for 30 minutes at a time and attempting to find someone you know in a sea of drunken idiot? It could be a week away and we feel compelled to “have plans” for this holiday. Heaven forbid that you should be home alone or in bed asleep, no you must be out in public!

While attempting to come up with plans (so I could be one of those silly people among the masses) for the evening, I stumbled upon rituals and traditions people participate in during the new year. It seems that most countries have the similar celebration of firecrackers and noise makers, but when compared to the rest of the world, the United States looks kind of foolish. There are a few non U.S. websites that try to explain how we celebrate and I couldn’t help but laugh because the we sound like big dopes, all gathered round watching some big electric ball drop, while other countries have long standing customs and traditions usually involving family. And then there are the superstitions! Superstitions for this holiday go from anything to eating black eye peas, to opening the window to “let the old air out”, to kissing at midnight. We are the only country to have the midnight kiss. Where do we come up with these things? When did old wives tales turn from one moment in time into something that we must compare ourselves to each and every year, and if we can’t reach those standards, are met with 365 days of doom?

I sure hope not! Being a single woman on New Year’s isn’t as depressing as the movies make it out to be. When most people think of a single woman ringing in the New Year by herself, we cut to a clip of Bridget Jones Diary, with Renée Zellweger belting out “All by Myself” sloshed on cheap champagne but it can be different. Don’t get me wrong, that may have been how I have felt on the inside in past years but just because we single people lack a significant other, doesn’t mean we are alone.

I believe that I have only had one midnight kiss in my life, maybe back in 2002? Every non lip locking year since then has not been cursed because just like wine, each year keeps getting better and better! If you happen to be alone and a little bit down, just remember, it is just one night. Tomorrow is a new day. Don’t stress about making it a “perfect evening” and “this New Years Eve is going to be the best” because you are only setting yourself up to be let down. Whether you decide to spend this holiday home in bed before 10pm, having a family game night or hitting the dance floor shaking your groove thing, enjoy yourself and celebrate the way YOU want to! Be safe! (No drinking and driving!)